


A Study In the World Ending

by tobeaskeleton



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Angst and Humor, Coming of Age, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Rivalry, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-05-23 16:16:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14937678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tobeaskeleton/pseuds/tobeaskeleton
Summary: Eddie hates Richie's jokes, his attitude, and his ability to challenge Eddie's class rank without even trying.In short: boarding school, academic rivalry, enemies to lovers. ya know the usual.characters are juniors in high school





	1. Derry Prep

**Author's Note:**

> trying to do a chaptered fic! please comment if you'd like to :)

Eddie watches as the custodian rakes red and yellow leaves off of the expanse of the football field, the man’s shirt damp with sweat. Tuning out his mother’s incessant pestering, Eddie clutches his brown, leather suitcase tighter. It’s a nice suitcase too, much like his nice sheets and comforter that his mother insisted he needed. “Only the best for my Eddie,” she had said, spending too much money on making Eddie look respectable. Now, she was going over all his belongings and attempting to persuade him to come home and be homeschooled again. 

“You know, Eddie,” his mother begins. “I’ve read about people forgetting to take their medication and having seizures. How am I supposed to know they’ll give you your medicine?”

“I’ll be fine, mommy,” Eddie sighs. He swears they go through this every year. And they do. Ever since Eddie Kaspbrak learned of Derry when he was thirteen, his overbearing mother discouraged him from going. She begged him to stay, but he managed to convince her with the promise of getting into a good college with a scholarship. If his grades dropped at all, his mother would immediately call in attempt to convince him to come home.

So needless to say Eddie has become a perfectionist out of necessity. 

Zoning out, Eddie looks again out the window at the custodian. He’s a young guy, probably in his mid to late twenties, and Eddie finds himself staring as he lifts his shirt to wipe a line of sweat off of his forehead.

“Are you even listening to me?” Sonia Kaspbrak snaps. Eddie whips his head back to see his mother, her eyes nearly filling with tears. 

“Yes, mommy,” he replies. “I’ll call every day.”

She envelops him in a smothering hug before saying a final (and reluctant) goodbye. Eddie is admittedly relieved when she leaves, releasing the clutch he had on his suitcase and flops down on his bed. The mattress is cheap, the kind that’s more like a gym mat than a bed, and Eddie wonders why such an expensive school couldn’t spare expenses on a decent mattress. 

At least, he thinks, this year he’s going to be roommates with Bill. Last year he roomed with Stan, and although Eddie has no personal vendetta over him, his friendship with Richie Tozier left the room often interrupted by the tall boy’s obnoxious presence. 

Out of even the most annoying douchebag boys at Derry, Richie is undeniably Eddie’s least favorite person at the school. Sure, there is Bowers, but boys like that always end up nowhere anyway. Richie, however, seems to keep afloat just fine, making his way up to the top five percent of their class.

At least Eddie can say he finished last year as number one, and he doesn’t plan on losing the spot now. 

When Bill walks in, he beams at Eddie’s presence, and the two emerge in a hug. 

“God, you have no idea what hell I’ve been through this summer,” Eddie relents. Bill squeezes his friends shoulders.

“I know,” he says. “I got- got your letters.” 

“My mom just makes me so-” Eddie starts to say, before cutting himself off. He clenches his fists and then unclenches them. Looking out the window, he sees that the young custodian is gone. 

Bill smiles, reassuringly. “Hey, E-Eddie, it’ll be o-okay.” Bill sits down on the opposite mattress. “We’re go-going to be the best roommates, and there-therefore going to have the best y-year.” 

“What if we learn to hate each other?” Eddie asks, sighing. 

“That’s op-optimistic.” 

Eddie smiles. “You’re right, Bill. If everything goes according to plan this should be a great year.”

-

Everything does not go according to plan. 

In the middle of a speech given by the principal, Mr. Evans, Eddie feels his back pocket vibrate. Unfortunately, the sound of a cell phone buzzing against a metal chair is enough to make Evans stop mid sentence and ask, “Do you need to take that Kaspbrak?”

Eddie looks at his phone; it’s his mother. 

“No, sir,” Eddie replies, sitting up straighter. “My apologies.”

Since Eddie is not exactly a troublemaker, he gets off with a warning and a crimson colored blush on his cheeks. Bill gives him a sympathetic look. 

After the assembly, Eddie finds a secluded hallway to return his mother’s call.

“What is it, ma?” he asks.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone? Oh, Eddie, I thought you were hurt or killed or-”

“I was just in assembly.”

“I just wanted to make sure you were alright, is that too much to ask?”

“No, I-”

“-Is a mother not allowed to know that her son is safe?” Sonia badgers on. Suddenly, Eddie hears footsteps approaching.

“I have to go, someone is coming,” he says quietly.

“Goodbye, Eddiebear, I love you.”

“Bye.”

“What was that?”

He sighs. “I love you mommy.”

As he hangs up, he realizes that none other than Richie Tozier is standing in front of him. Eddie feels his face heating up for the second time. Shit. 

“Sorry, was I interrupting something?” Richie asks with a smirk. 

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asks, crossing his arms. 

“Well, I was trying to take a piss and then I overheard you talking about some kinky mommy stuff.” Richie grins, looking goofy with his oversized coke-bottle glasses that magnify his eyes. Goofy, Eddie thinks, but also sinister. Admittedly, he notices that Richie has grown a few inches over the summer and has grown into his face, which was once full and round and is now met with a strong jawline. Eddie looks away.

He isn’t in the mood for Richie’s mocking. Rolling his eyes, he walks away, trying not to let dumb comments get to him. He does what he does with everything- pushes it off, pretends it doesn’t exist. Richie stares after him as he turns into the dining hall.

“Hey, where were you?” Bill asks as Eddie sits down beside him. Eddie winces.

“My mom called.”

Bill opens his mouth, presumably to offer some words of sage advice, but is interrupted as Ben and Mike join them. 

“Eddie!” Ben greets him. “Are you running track this year?” 

“Yeah, I’m a little out of shape, though,” he admits. Truthfully, Eddie only joined the track team to look good on college scholarships. Ben had too, initially, but then found himself genuinely enjoying it, transforming from a portly fourteen year old to slim and athletic. 

“You’re such jocks these days,” Mike teases. “Billy and I will be busy doing debate, right?”

“I don’t know,” Bill says. “I’ve been considering auditioning for line-linebacker.” He holds up his scrawny arms like he’s making muscles. 

“It really says a lot that you think you ‘audition’ to be on the football team,” Eddie snorts. As Bill goes on to defend himself, Eddie notices that Richie is nowhere to be seen. There are a lot of rumors about Richie- that he sneaks out to meet with his weed guy or that he’s hooked up with every girl at their neighboring school. Eddie doesn’t know what to believe. He turns back to his friends and continues picking at his steak and mashed peas. 

-

Something unfortunate that Eddie realizes is that Bill falls asleep extremely early. Eddie does not. He is kept awake by a looming anxiety that pesters him to make sure he has completed all of his work and on top of every class. Class, for the record, has not even started yet, but Eddie needs to feel completely prepared. 

He turns on his side and gazes out the window until his eyes grow heavy and he drifts into sleep.


	2. Michelle Pfeiffer's A-list Bod

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring some talk of body image issues and a Batman metaphor.

Eddie has always been a perpetually pessimistic person. It’s a stark contrast next to Bill’s incestant optimism.

The first week of school had gone by quickly. In first period, Eddie had found himself forced to analyze Dorian Gray next to Richie who cracked a bunch of gay jokes, for which he faced no penalty. 

Looking at the cover now, Eddie sees Oscar Wilde’s piercing expression stare at him, reminding him of the reading he has to do over the weekend.

For the rest of his classes, Eddie was Richie-free, although he did nearly walk into Eddie’s history class on accident before playing it off as a joke. Eddie had loosened his tie and took a perhaps melodramatic sigh of relief. 

Currently, Bill stands over Eddie dressed in his street clothes- a pair of dark wash jeans and a flannel- while Eddie stays criss-crossed on his bed looking stubbornly up at his friend. 

“C’mon Ed-Eddie,” Bill says. “It’s our first Friday out of campus as upperclassmen. Ben just wants to go to the movies!”

“You say that,” Eddie begins, crossing his arms. “But I know Ben is going to spring, like, rollerblading on us at the last second.” 

“I-I swear. N-nothing else but a m-movie,” Bill says. “Pl-plus you’re g-good at roller sk-skating! Remember that gu-girl asked for your number!” 

Eddie inwardly groans at the memory. She was pretty too. And yet, he didn’t call her.

“Fine,” Eddie says, still pouting. “I’ll go.” 

Bill grins and Eddie rolls his eyes in response. 

-

They do go to a movie. Eddie puts on a polo and khaki shorts in favor of his uniform and meets Ben and Bill outside where they take a bus to the nearest theater. 

After some bickering, they decide on seeing Batman Returns, which ends up being pretty good. The penguin is only a little bit disgusting, and even so, Eddie stomachs it to see Michael Keaton’s Batman. Eddie remembers reading Batman comics in bed when his mother was convinced he was ill and how much he liked how Bruce Wayne could be nerdy and smart while Batman was badass. In truth, Eddie is probably more of a Robin. 

It’s just a kid-fantasy. But regardless, Eddie has a good time. Bill and Ben seem to as well because they leave the theater giggling at something Eddie doesn’t hear.

“What’s funny?” Eddie asks, turning to his friends. Ben blushes.

They walk out into the lobby. “B-Ben is just em-embarrassed because I c-caught him drooling over C-Catwoman.” 

A red-haired girl in a work-uniform looks at them and grins. “Who can blame him? Michelle Pfeiffer does have a hot body in that Catwoman costume.”

Eddie nods like he understands. “Yeah…” he tries to add in. “I, uh, yeah totally.”

Ben’s blush depens. Bill raises his eyebrow at the girl. “Hey you look familar. Do y-you g-go to Chestwick?” Chestwick is the neighboring girls’ school. 

She shakes her head. “Used to. I go to the public high school. I can’t stand pretending to have money.” Suddenly, a gawky boy waltzes in and throws an arm around the girl’s shoulder. Eddie furrows his eyebrows in confusion as he recognizes the boy as Richie. 

“I really can’t escape you,” Eddie mutters.

“What was that?” Richie asks, smirking. “Ah, you know you love me, Eds.” 

“Not my name,” Eddie groans.

“H-how do you kn-know Richie?” Bill asks the girl.

“Oh Bev?” Richie asks, gesturing to the girl. “She’s… my smoking hot girlfriend.”

Bev chokes. “Uh, yeah. We do ya know, crazy… sex things.” 

“Really?” Eddie asks, incredulous. 

“Sorry, Eds, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Richie says. There is a tense silence where the only sound that can be heard is Ben loudly sipping on his Coca Cola through a straw. 

“Uh, so anyway, nice meeting you guys,” Bev says, hurrying to get out of their way and get off her shift. 

Ben pauses. “Is it just me or was that weird as shit?”

-

On the bus ride back Bill relents, “How can R-Richie get a girlfriend and I c-can’t?” 

“I mean, there aren’t a lot of opportunities, Bill, we go to an all guys school,” Ben points out, tapping on the side of his seat. Eddie looks out the window, watching as the night grows darker by the second, wishing the conversation topic would change. 

Eddie remembers in the first grade, he liked this girl, so he wrote her a note asking if she liked him back. She said yes, and they played boyfriend and girlfriend for a week. That was about the extent of his dating experience. However, despite being inexperienced, something gave Eddie the vibe that Richie was fucking with them. He was too tired to explain this to his friends.

“Hey,” Ben says. “Training begins tomorrow. You excited?”

“Something like that,” Eddie replies. Ben laughs. “But, yeah, I need to exercise. Or else my head is like-” He gestures around his head to signify going crazy. 

“Yeah, I get it.” Ben pauses. “I’m afraid sometimes too. You know, I’m afraid of going back where I once was.” He sighs.

“Hey,” Eddie says. “Don’t let that stuff get to you. Your body is fine.”

“Ed-Eddie’s right. Plus, you’re the m-most genuine guy I kn-know.” 

“Agreed,” Eddie says. Ben smiles and rolls his eyes. “No homo, though,” Eddie adds, cautiously. Bill and Ben laugh. 

-

Eddie feels sometimes that running is the only time he feels sane. He remembers running from home once when he was eight.

Sonia had thrown a fit, and he had felt anxiety rising in his chest. That’s when she had convinced him and the doctor that he needed an inhaler. After that, he didn’t run for years. 

Bill walks into their shared dorm with a towel around his waist. Eddie stares at the ceiling.

“Are y-you okay?” Bill asks. 

Eddie turns away on his side. “Yeah, yeah, Billiam. Just thinkin’ about Michelle Pfeiffer’s A-list bod.” 

Wasn’t the most interesting part of that movie the Penguin? He was abandoned by his family and forced to live in the sewers.


	3. Running Track for the Asthmatic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie is a bitch

The white painted walls of pharmacies and clinics remind Eddie of his childhood. The small pill bottles, the old pharmacist behind the counter wearing plastic gloves. Remembering them makes Eddie wish to never contract a legitimate illness that would force him to make a purchase that requires a scribbled doctor’s prescription.

So when he sprains his wrist in practice, his first reaction is denial. It’s his good arm too, of course, and he finds himself wincing in attempt to finish his history homework. 

At breakfast, Ben took notice to the purple discoloration around his wrist. “Dude that’s bad,” he said. And when Eddie shrugged it off, Mike and Bill shook their heads and they all walked Eddie to the nurse.

Which leaves Eddie where he is now. In a splint. Fan-fucking-tastic. Their first track meet was in a week, and he knows they won’t let him run when if it could further his injury. To make it worse, their first track meet is the next weekend. He groans.

“Is there a problem, dear?” the nurse asks. Her voice even reminds Eddie of his mother. 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Eddie sighs. “Just- how long do I have to keep this on?” 

“Two weeks, depending on how quickly it heals.” 

Eddie stares at her, dumbfounded. “It’s just a sprain.”

“A sprain that got worse when you decided to hide it,” she points out, raising an eyebrow. Okay, so she is a bit snarkier than his mother ever could be. 

“And track?”

“In two weeks you should be healed.” she notes.

“I’m not running on my hands,” Eddie retorts with a scowl. He crosses his arms as best as he can while not being able to bend his right wrist. 

“The fall you took on that hand tells another story,” the nurse says. Eddie almost misses when she was a sweet, motherly type. Women always betray Eddie’s expectations that way.

His mother, for example, she seems like the ideal, doting mother, caring for her son every step of the way. Then, one day he realized as a kid that she was keeping him under her grasp, a tight grasp which crushed his ribs and made it hard to breathe. 

Making his way to first period, Eddie realizes with dread that he’ll be sitting next to Richie, thanks to the academic evil of first-period. It kind of sucks because English is actually Eddie’s subject, something Richie ruined for him last year as well. 

In tenth grade, they had had this really cool lady, Miss. Bennet was her name, and she had cared more about poetry than essays, teaching them daring works by Dickinson. Most of the guys talked about Bennet in crude ways behind her back, including Richie, but Eddie just genuinely liked her class. Of course, there was nothing that couldn’t be ruined for him. 

They had read “I heard a Fly buzz…” in class. Richie, of course, had his feet propped up on the chair in front of him while Eddie glared across the room. Mrs. Bennet asked what they thought.

But Eddie had raised his hand.

“Maybe the fly is representative of freedom she doesn’t have. Like, she is dying in this still room while an ugly fly buzzes around and mocks her lack of ability.” 

Eddie recalls now that Richie had turned to look at him with those dumb glasses that made his eyes magnified. If that feeling wasn’t enough, he was sure he must have said something stupid when he walked out and heard Richie talking to his friends.

“Who cares? It’s a poem by a reclusive lady who never did anything important,” he had said. 

It was whatever. Eddie’s done trying to be insightful now. When he shows up late to English with a note from the nurse, he quietly opens Dorian Gray as Dorian’s fiance commits suicide. Richie has to lean over and look at Eddie’s book to keep up, but Eddie is reluctant to comply. Eventually, Richie is leaning too close for Eddie to be comfortable, and Eddie moves the book to the corner of his desk so they can both read. 

-

Though he isn’t required to, Eddie takes up sitting in the bleachers during track, which proves to be somewhat tortuous. His skin crawls to be able to run again, feel wind against his skin. Feel free. 

Eddie saw earlier that day that Richie had gotten a perfect score on their first English quiz, Eddie being only a point off. In his defense, it’s kind of fucking hard to concentrate on questions while also forcing yourself to be ambidextrous. 

Richie hadn’t even brought the book to class! Meanwhile Eddie was offered an extension on their upcoming essay and didn’t take it, like a dumbass, just because he didn’t want to fall behind on classwork. And Eddie’s pretty sure Richie doesn’t even have any extracurriculars other than hanging out with the Chestwick dropout girl and maybe doing hard drugs for all Eddie knows! (For the record, Eddie is pretty sure he’s not doing hard drugs.)

Eddie barely even notices when Ben jogs up to Eddie in the middle of practice.

“You okay, buddy?” Ben asks. Eddie sighs.

“Yeah I’m just-”

“-wound up?” Ben finishes with a smirk. 

“Oh, kiss my ass,” Eddie bites back, his lips curling to show that he’s kidding. “It’s just this stupid, goddamn sprain is so annoying. I can run with a sprained wrist!”

“Running is how you sprained your wrist,” Ben points out.

“Why does everyone bring that up?” Eddie asks, bringing his good hand to his forehead.

“You should head back to your room. Get some rest. Keep Big Bill company.”

“Yeah, but…” Eddie trails off.

“No buts,” Ben protests. “You’re taking a nap and that’s final.”

Eddie reluctantly agrees, exhausted from his own irritability. 

-

Lying on his back and staring at the ceiling, Eddie thinks of his future. The honest truth is that he wants to get as far away as he can with his own money, his own car… And then what? He guesses get married, start a family. But that image isn’t that attractive to him. 

His own family is so fucked, wouldn’t it be shame to start another one? He only sees himself in the loveless and sexless marriage of his parents before his dad passed. 

Bill was at his desk, listening to music, oblivious to Eddie’s existential crisis. Sometimes Eddie is really jealous of his friend, who seems so perfectly put together with a picket-fence family and his kind parents and Georgie… But that’s just him being idealistic. Eddie knows there must be something that puts Bill on edge- the reason he can’t beat that goddamn stutter. 

It just seems sometimes, to Eddie, that everyone is so much more put together than him and he can barely keep up. Even Richie, a complete mess, is somehow beating him at his own game.

-

Eddie cannot believe it when Richie hands in his essay an entire week early. Meanwhile, Eddie hasn’t even started his yet. He knows he’ll have to either force his left hand to work or head up to the crusty computer lab in the public library. 

He’s in a bad mood when he gets to lunch and Mike picks up on it while they wait for Ben and Bill to sit down. 

“You look miserable,” Mike says.

“Well, thanks,” Eddie replies, annoyed. Mike chuckles under his breath. 

“You know, Ben broke his entire goddamn foot freshman year and you didn’t see him suffering,” Mike points out. He was just trying to make light of the situation, but Eddie found himself angry irritable. 

“Well, did Ben have to write an essay on Victorian literature with his left hand? I didn’t think so,” Eddie replies.

A tense pause follows before Mike says, deadpan, “Ben’s left-handed.”

Eddie glares at him.

“Look, okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Mike says. “You can’t get an extension on this?”

“I could but Richie fucking Tozier handed his in a week early, and I have to prove that I’m better than him.”

“Maybe you should worry less about Richie and more about yourself,” Mike points out. Eddie rolls his eyes. “But, listen, I can’t believe I’m offering this but… I could be your scribe?”

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “This is, like, a longass essay.”

“I know,” Mike sighs. “Just don’t let me regret it.”

-

Mike and Eddie sit in the boy’s common room, Eddie verbally conveying his essay to Mike who uses Ben’s old typewriter, when Richie walks in. Of course.

“It’s nice that you’re getting help for your boo boo,” Richie says in a mocking tone. “Is he gonna help you beat off, too?” 

“Fuck off, Richie,” Eddie says, not being in the mood to take a Richie style joke. “You know, they say people who make homophobic jokes are overcompensating.”

“Well, they also say guys who are uptight jerks are compensating for their dick size,” Richie says back.   
Eddie is a little bit taken aback. Jerk? Does Richie ever look in the mirror?

“Well, if you excuse me,” Richie says. “I finished my essay early so I could go out with my girlfriend. You’ve heard of companionship, right Eddie?”

Eddie shoots him a nasty look while he leaves. Something turns in Eddie’s chest. Maybe he’s jealous once again, even of Richie fucking Tozier.

-

Eddie checks in with the nurse at the end of the week. He knows the track meet is going on, but he can’t bring himself to watch while he’s stuck on the sidelines. 

As the woman observes his bruising, she looks up and says, “I’ve called your mother and looked at your medical history. How do you run track when you have such terrible asthma.”

Eddie inhales sharply. How is he supposed to explain this?

“I don’t actually have asthma,” Eddie says.

“Try telling that to your mother.”

Oh shit, Eddie thinks, my mother. 

When he gets back to his room, he picks up his cell phone to see seven missed calls. It is going to be a long week.


	4. Preps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i have a headache so there's no way i'm editing this rn. hope it's still enjoyable!

Eddie often lives life on a very narrow line, careful not to stray from either side. There are some things like his mother, where he is so close to falling that it keeps him up at night.

He used to have panic attacks, but now he just finds himself waking up in the middle of the night and staying completely still, his mind blank but his body feeling the extent of his worry. 

His mother. Sometimes, Eddie finds himself believing she is irredeemable. 

He hates thinking this way, but it occurs to him sometimes to just leave her all behind and look at her as evil. Or he could submit and be exactly what she wants. Doing neither is harder than he could ever anticipate. 

Before he steps into the shower, he undoes his splint and examines the purple bruising on his wrist, recalling his mother’s outrage at him being on the track team for all these years without her permission. When he closes his eyes, he sees himself falling on the track after tripping over a fucking shoelace. God. How could he be so stupid.

The water rushes over him, waking him up. He got up a bit early this morning, so no one else is in the showers, which relaxes him. Though he still wears his flip flops to protect his feet from potential mold. 

When he exits the shower, he is startled to see someone else there. Richie nods at him awkwardly, brushing his teeth with a towel wrapped around his hair and his briefs worn low around his hips. Eddie feels stupid as he blushes and heads back to his room. 

He doesn’t meet Richie’s eyes then in English, obviously not because he’s embarrassed, but because it’s been a weird morning thinking of his mother and all. 

Mrs. Bennet assigns for them to all individually draft a free verse poem for next class.

“What is an appropriate subject matter for this poem?” Richie asks, grinning.

“While I don’t want to enforce censorship, anything I’m sure running through your filthy mind, Tozier, is inappropriate for school.” The class all lets out a collective chuckle except for Eddie who rolls his eyes. 

Eddie doesn’t actually admit this to the guys in school who think expressing emotion is inherently gay, but he likes writing poetry.

But when Mrs. Bennet says, “Be prepared to all read your works in class,” Eddie is less excited. He’s torn between writing something void of emotion or writing something he really wants to. 

-

Eddie only has a few more practices he has to sit out of before he’s given the okay to run again. Today, instead of sullenly watching his teammates run, he decided to say back in the common room and get ahead on homework. Recently, it seems like Richie is coming for his neck with the grades he’s been getting, and Eddie has began to suspect something.

He’s never been too concerned about Richie’s wellbeeing which might of lead to him never considering that Richie’s tuition might be from the same place as his is. The school board is losing money and maintaining a scholarship is getting harder, and it wasn’t like Richie is ever bragging about going to the Bahamas like some of the other kids in their class. Maybe he was just polite, but Eddie really doubts that Tozier is capable of politeness. 

It is kind of hard to adapt to Derry, Eddie reflects, having not come from money, but Richie acts just as annoying as all the other rich kids. Frustrated over not being able to figure him out, Eddie decides to manage to stop thinking about Richie and work on physics equations. His head wasn’t working, though. He really wasn’t grasping the concepts, and it worried the hell out of him, since he was expected to take AP physics senior year. Suddenly, his temple begins throbbing and he closes his notebook in defeat before deciding to begin his English poem.

-

“Are y-you alright Eddie?” Bill asks. Eddie has been doing nothing but staring at the ceiling for twenty minutes.”

“I’m great, Bill. Really.”

“Are you s-sure?” Bill asks. “Because this is the second day in a row I’ve walked in on you scre-scre-screaming into your pillow.” Fair game, Eddie thinks before turning to his friend. 

“Do you ever feel like your brain is slowly melting and your attention span is growing shorter and shorter?”

“Eddie,” Bill begins. “You’re like way t-too stressed, m-man.” 

“Thanks, I haven’t noticed,” Eddie retorts.

“Maybe you should, like, I don’t know. G-go out with everyone for once.”

“Bill, you know I have too much work for that.” 

“N-no such thing,” Bill says. “You h-have to have fun.”

So that’s how Eddie ends up on his way to some dumb party Friday night, at the house of some senior whose parents are out of the country. He isn’t quite sure if it’s just an open-invitation thing, but Bill assures him that he will be welcome. And yeah, when he gets there he can tell that no one will question his attendance. The foyer itself is packed with people, some who Eddie can tell are college students even. The only commonality between everyone seems to be a thick wallet. 

But everyone is still drinking and smoking like it’s going out of style, and the Derry guys are schmoozing with the college kids while the host of the party, according to Bill, is probably doing cocaine in the back room. It makes Eddie feel a swell of anxiety, despite knowing that he can easily avoid the preppy kids doing hard drugs in the basement, and his mother’s voice rings warnings through his head. 

He sits next to Bill and a guy in a yellow polo. The guy introduces himself as being from Bowdoin College, and Eddie reluctantly kisses up to him for what he knows is his own good.   
-

About an hour into the party, Eddie hears a familiar, annoying voice coming from behind him. He tries to ignore it, but it became evident that Richie has walked in with Bev at his side. 

“Gooday ol’ chap,” Richie says, winking as Eddie meets his eyes. Eddie glares at him, and Richie turns his attention to Beverly. Eddie notices that Richie stands out like a sore thumb with his ripped jeans and worn t-shirt. 

“You know him?” the Bowdoin guy asks.

“More or less.”

“God, he was at another party I went to a week ago,” the guy says. “What an idiot.”

“That I can agree with,” Eddie admits. 

“He can’t seem to get a clue that this isn’t a charity drive.”

Eddie is taken aback by this. “What do you mean?”

“Look at him: bad clothes, cheap glasses. And then Derry gives handouts.”

Eddie is shocked for a moment, and then finds himself getting angry. “God, Richie’s annoying, but I think you’re the real idiot. I’m sure at least he’ll do better than a little ivy.” He stands, grabbing Bill’s wrist and tugging him out the door.

When he gets outside, he sees Richie talking to another guy while Beverly stands beside him, laughing at something he’s said and touching his arm. Eddie gives them a second glance, wondering if she really was his honest to God girlfriend after all. 

-

In English class, Richie is oddly quiet towards him, not that Eddie complaining. Although, it puts him slightly on edge, especially since he’s already nervous to read his poem in front of the class. He can already visualize Richie’s mocking remarks that are sure to come afterwards. 

Some of the guys write funny poems, sarcastic stuff that can’t be taken seriously. Richie’s is called “An Ode to Calculus” which he reads in a terrible accent. 

When Mrs. Bennet calls on Eddie, he stiffens in his seat. 

“I know reading is part of the assignment, but-”

“-No buts. We don’t have all day,” she retorts. He gives a sideways glance at Richie who raises an eyebrow at him. 

Eddie winces at the sound of his desk creaking as he stands, taking the piece of paper in his hands and not looking up, his eyes boring into the page.

He reads:

“A storm approaches in the night,  
clouds loom around my head.  
I hear a voice, and it’s not God;  
It’s a man pressing on my shoulders,  
until I’m ten feet underwater. 

I’m searching for breath,  
but there’s nothing left.   
I have a final cry to yell,  
not for mother-  
but for the man   
who put me here to drown. “

When he looks up, a few guys are snickering in the back, but he doesn’t care. Richie is just staring at him with a puzzled expression.


	5. Richie's Gay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ummm sorry for slow updates i never know when i'm writing this because i'm working on a much longer project rn. but i hope u like this chapter!

Now that Eddie believes that Bev and Richie are actually dating, he doesn’t know why it stings to him that Richie is taking her to the Halloween dance. It’s just a stupid school thing where hundreds of kids will be jammed in a gymnasium, but dances were celebrated at Derry because they could bring members of the opposite sex. 

Mike is bringing a girl from Chestwick. Eddie has met her once or twice at past events, and she seems nice enough. It’s not that he didn’t understand what his friends saw in girls, it was just that he was unable to grasp why they made such efforts to court them and take them out to these events. But it’s whatever. Eddie’s going without a date, but so are Bill and Ben. 

And it’s different for him because, while his friends are smart enough, he has to maintain his academic status and stay on top. How Richie manages to keep up with him when Eddie only ever sees him smoking or with his girlfriend remains a mystery. 

To say it didn’t frustrate Eddie would be a lie.   
And the thing is, while Eddie becomes tense and irritable if Richie gets a higher grade than him, Richie doesn’t seem to care one way or another. 

“Do you have a c-costume planned out?” Bill asks Eddie at breakfast.

“No, I don’t have a costume planned. I don’t wear costumes. I’m not a little kid.”

“Wow, someone’s grumpy,” Mike notes. 

“Anyway, I’m personally excited for Bill and I to be Batman and Robin…” Ben begins. Eddie tunes him out, picking at his cuticles in favor of eating his breakfast.

In English, they get the grades for their poems back, and Eddie feels his face heat up thinking about how he read such deep shit in front of the entire class. And also because of Richie who, after class, had passed him and said, “Cool poem.” 

He did get a higher grade than Richie. But he barely looked at the poem before stuffing it back in his backpack, feeling weird and embarrassed. 

“Eds, you’re blushing like a schoolgirl,” Richie says. He pinches Eddie’s cheek. “My Eddie Spaghetti is so modest.”

“Shut up, why don’t you?” Eddie retorts. 

“Ouch! I’m wounded.” Richie mimes having heart pains. 

-

“You have to d-dress up. That’s the point of the d-dance,” Bill argues with Eddie. 

Eddie tries to ignore Bill and pulls out a book, 

“I’m s-serious.”

Eddie sighs, “If you go out and buy me some fake vampire fangs, I’ll wear them.”

“Th-then you’ll need a cape.”

“This is pushing it.”

“C-come on dude!” 

Eddie looks at his pleading friend. He can never say no to Bill. 

-

Despite the streamers, despite the tables of refreshments, Eddie is not having fun. No matter how many times the DJ does a cheesy record scratch, he can’t seem to shake the feeling that he should be doing anything else but this. Like studying for his history test, and getting ahead on math homework, and-

“Hey, n-no need to look so gruh-grumpy,” Bill says. To make matters worse, Bill had decided to show up early, and Eddie now observes the awkward shuffling of a half empty ballroom. 

He gives Bill a grimace. 

Eventually, more people begin filtering through; he thinks he spots Richie and Bev in the corner of his eye. But his friends also came through, Mike with his date and Ben making his way over to them stag. Now, Eddie isn’t dancing by any means, but he does participate in some head bobbing, which is about as far as he’ll go. 

For some reason, he can’t stifle his curiosity and moves to speak to Richie and Bev, Bev’s red hair making her easy to spot. 

“Oh, hey, look! It’s Eddie Spaghetti,” Richie says. Eddie rolls his eyes.

“That’s not my name, asshole.”

Richie is dressed down in his normal grungy attire, but his hair is teased, and he has red lipstick smudged around his mouth.

“Sorry, Count Ed-cula,” Richie says. “I’ve come to suck your dick!” he mocks with a terrible accent.

“Whatever,” Eddie says. “At least you know what I am.” 

“I’m Robert Smith!” Richie says.

“Who?”

“The singer, from the Cure.” 

“Ohhh,” Eddie replies. “So, what I hear is, you’re calling me gay and then dressing like Boys Don’t Cry.” 

Richie shoots him an uneven smile, and while Eddie expects Richie to have a comeback, a silence settles between them. Bev then grabs Richie’s arm, wearing what Eddie realizes now is a femme take on Morrissey. An odd choice, but Eddie let’s it slide. He’s about to walk away when-

“Oh, you’re Eddie, right?” Bev asks. He tries not to look too surprised.

“Yeah, that’s me.” 

“Why don’t you come dance with us?” she asks, her smile warm and friendly. But Eddie shakes his head.

“I should be getting back to my friends.” 

“Well you should bring your friends to my place afterwards,” she offers. “We’re having a party.” She reaches into her pocket and brings out a slip of paper with an address written on it.

“Thanks,” Eddie says, stuffing the paper into his slacks. Bev looks at Richie who has gone off to do some ridiculous dance moves.

“He’s so gay,” Bev says.

“Richie’s gay?” Eddie asks, confused. Bev freezes for a second.

“No he just- he looks gay, you know. Like he looks dumb.”

“Oh, okay,” Eddie says, awkwardly walking away. 

Bev calls after him, “I hope to see you later!”

He finally finds Bill and Ben dancing like idiots.

“Did Richie’s girlfriend just give you her number?” Ben asks in disbelief. Eddie rolls his eyes.

“Yes, she gave me her number while Richie was standing right there. Makes perfect sense.” 

“S-so what did she give you?”

Eddie sighs. “She’s having a party tonight, so she gave me her address, but-”

“Holy shit, we have to go,” Ben blurts out.

“You guys can.”

“B-but we c-can’t go without you,” Bill whines.

“Yeah, you’re the one who was invited,” Ben agrees. Bill places a hand on his shoulder. 

“Listen, Eh-Eddie. You don’t h-h-have an excuse this time. We have a long week-weekend, and virtually n-no assignments. Have fun.”

“I have fun all the time!” Eddie protests.

“Is studying fun to you?”

“Sure, it is.” His voice, however, sounds unsure.

“Okay, once we get out of here, we’re bringing you to that p-party.” 

Eddie slumps his shoulders in defeat. “I hate you guys.”

The dance continues as anticipated, crowded and with an unfortunate song selection (Eddie is about to jump off a cliff when they play Billy fucking Ray Cyrus) while Eddie looks over at Bev and Richie with a strange feeling in his chest. He doesn’t know why, but it makes him replay over and over, Richie looking at him, grinning, and saying-

Cool poem.

And when it all ends, Eddie is relieved, but it is attached to the dread of the stupid party he got coerced into. He really hates his friends sometimes. Bill swings an arm around his shoulder, and Eddie shrugs him off, glaring.

Bill pouts. “Ed-d-die. Lighten up.”

“Hey, if you really are so against going, we won’t make you,” Ben says, softly. Eddie looks at both at them, and then sees Bev and Richie giggling out of the corner of his eye. 

“No,” Eddie says. “I’ll go.”


End file.
